Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Antirrhinumxc3x97hybrida cultivar Sulte Whit.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Antirrhinum plant, commercially known as a trailing Snapdragon, botanically known as Antirrhinum hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Sulte Whit.
The new Antirrhinum is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Gilroy, Calif. The objective of the breeding program is to create new early and freely flowering Antirrhinums with trailing and mounded plant habit and attractive leaf and flower coloration.
The new Antirrhinum originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in September, 2000 of a proprietary selection of Antirrhinum hybrida identified as code number 116C, not patented, as the female, or seed parent, with a proprietary selection of Antirrhinum hybrida identified as code number 6, not patented, as the male, or pollen parent. The new Antirrhinum was selected as a single plant from the resulting progeny of the cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Gilroy, Calif. in May, 2001.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal vegetative cuttings since May, 2001, in Gilroy, Calif. has shown that the unique features of this new Antirrhinum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar Sulte Whit have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, light intensity and daylength without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Sulte Whitxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Sulte Whitxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar.
1. Outwardly spreading, decumbent and mounded plant habit.
2. Freely branching habit.
3. Freely flowering habit.
4. Numerous flowers that are white in color.
In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Gilroy, Calif., plants of the new Antirrhinum differed from plants of the female parent selection in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Antirrhinum were more freely branching than plants of the female parent selection.
2. Plants of the new Antirrhinum had shorter internodes than plants of the female parent selection.
3. Plants of the new Antirrhinum and the female parent selection differed in flower color as plants of the female parent selection had pink-colored flowers.
In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Gilroy, Calif., plants of the new Antirrhinum differed from plants of the male parent selection in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Antirrhinum were not as decumbent as plants of the male parent selection.
2. Leaves of plants of the new Antirrhinum were darker green in color than leaves of plants of the male parent selection.
3. Plants of the new Antirrhinum and the male parent selection differed in flower color as plants of the male parent selection had light pink-colored flowers.
Plants of the new Antirrhinumcan be compared to plants of the cultivar Luminaire White, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Gilroy, Calif., plants of the new Antirrhinum differed from plants of the cultivar Luminaire White in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Antirrhinum were more freely branching than plants of the cultivar Luminaire White.
2. Plants of the new Antirrhinum had longer internodes than plants of the cultivar Luminaire White.
3. Leaves of plants of the new Antirrhinum were lighter green in color than leaves of plants of the cultivar Luminaire White.